The dark side of social networking
A year ago it seemed that pages on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace were the must-have accessory for people who wanted to be cool and trendy but recent news stories reveal the less desirable aspects of them.
Credit Action, a national charity which aims to educate people about money, has said that some credit companies are breaking the financial advertising rules when they use social networking sites to tout for business, such as not giving the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for interest on the loan. It has written to the Office of Fair Trading about the adverts. A spokesman for the charity said: "Research by Credit Action has shown that much of this advertising breaks the rules on advertising credit and so we are campaigning to encourage Facebook users to report ads which break the rules."
Leeds City Council is also less than happy with Facebook after someone used it to organise a "flash mob" to take part in the world's biggest water fight. Whilst the water fight was good natured, and a lot of people enjoyed themselves, (as evidenced by the copious amount of footage appearing on YouTube), the venue chosen was Leeds' Millennium Square, site of the city's prize winning garden. 350 people took part in the escapade during which turf was ripped up, plants trampled, and the water features filled with foam. The council says there has been thousands of pounds worth of damage. Councillor John Procter said: "Our parks staff were distraught when they discovered the wreckage. To destroy years of careful cultivation for a couple of hours of so-called fun is unforgivable".
16th May 2008